Page 44 - AAA SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2016 Online Magazine

FeatuRe AVIATION

Unshakable Themes

Has the unthinkable happened and Boeing lost the “right stuff”?
By Geoffrey Thomas

CouLD aiRBus, CLeaR LeaDeR in the so- forward. Boeing is too focused on shareholder that the company would stick to its timeline
called Middle of the Market (MOM) segment, returns. Boeing needs to say enough. It’s time of 2024/25 for the MOM Entry Into Service.
launch a replacement for a market it already to invest in the future,” says Aboulafia. When asked if the US big three – United,
dominates as Boeing dithers? And Aboulafia references history to draw American and Delta – which are making
These are the unshakable themes some parallels. “Interestingly in the bio on record profits came to Boeing and said we
surrounding commercial aviation’s hottest topic the Boeing website for Harry Stonecipher, want the MOM sooner than later and would
coming out of the 2016 Farnborough Air Show. former McDonnell Douglas President and buy a hundred each if Boeing brought the
The MOM is essentially a 757 replacement CEO and later Boeing Chairman, it lauds program forward, the answer was that the
with some growth between 230 and 270 seats him saying ‘McDonnell Douglas’ financial company would stick to its timeline.
with around 5,000nm range and is expected performance soared under Stonecipher, with Of course, an orderly production plan is
to be a twin-aisle aircraft with a 2-2-2 cross the stock increasing from $18.48 just prior essential, agrees Aboulafia, but he says the
section and possibly slightly wider. to his arrival to more than $70 just before 787s lessons have been learned and learned
The most strident critic is Richard the company merged with Boeing in August well.
Aboulafia Vice President, Analysis at Teal 1997.’” Boeing has fixed all those design and
Group who says quite simply: “It’s all about But says Aboulafia, the problem was in production issues, argues Aboulafia, and
what they [Boeing] should do and what they 1997 when McDonnell Douglas had nothing… there is a very different management and
are doing. And what they should do is launch absolutely nothing new on the horizon. board team in place.
the MOM aircraft as quickly as possible and “It lost the JSF competition and cancelled And the hard yards have been done on
build a world beater like they did with the its MD-XX commercial program saying it the 737 MAX and 787-10 and the 777X is well
777. It’s tough to be optimistic about their would require billions to fix the lack of R&D advanced so engineering talent should not be
willingness to build a new product no matter over the previous 20 years. Is this where a major issue.
how promising,” laments Aboulafia. Boeing is headed?” he warns. Aboulafia warns Boeing that Airbus has
There is no doubt the 787 problems have Certainly there were very mixed the engineering talent in abundance after
impacted Boeing’s thinking but Aboulafia messages coming out of the Farnborough Air the successful execution of the A350 XWB
now worries that the company is “gun shy” Show with some senior Boeing executives program. “And they have the cash to press
and afraid to move decisively. talking up the need for the MOM while forward with an all new MOM aircraft. This
“Unquestionably the 787 [fiasco] has Chairman, President and CEO Dennis is a clear and present danger for Boeing,” he
an impact on their decision making going Muilenburg told Asian Airlines & Aerospace adds.

McDonnell Douglas brought
out brochures of its twin-aisle
Advanced Twin Medium Range
(ATMR) 757 competitor, in the
eighties. At the time MDC claimed
that it would require only one
passenger per trip to offset the
weight and drag of the additional
aisle in the 178 seat aircraft
44 ASIAN AIRLINES & AEROSPACE SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2016 WWW.GBP.COM.SG/AAA